Tide fees and pricing in full
Every plan price and every charge on the Tide business account for 2026 — plus the £200 you can claim with code NEW200 on the way in.
Tide referral code
Enter NEW200 when Tide asks for a referral or promo code during sign-up — or just use our link and it is applied for you.
T&Cs apply. New Tide business accounts only. We may earn a reward.
Plans
What each Tide plan costs
| Feature | Free | Smart | Pro | Max |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | £0 | £12.49 | £27.49 | £69.99 |
| Free bank transfers a month | 5 | 30 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Transfers beyond the allowance | 20p | 20p | Included | Included |
| FX fee on foreign card payments | 2.75% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Free invoices a month | 3 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Expense card seats included | None (£5 each) | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Extra business accounts | None | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Tide Accounting | From £13.99 | From £13.99 | Included | Included |
| Cashback on card spending | None | None | None | 0.5% |
| Instant Saver intro rate (AER, variable, first 4 months) | Up to 4% | Up to 4% | Up to 4% | Up to 4% |
| Instant Saver rate after the intro period (AER, variable) | 2.27% | 2.78% | 3.29% | 3.74% |
Most small businesses never need to leave the Free plan. The two reasons to upgrade are foreign currency spending and transfer volume — everything else is convenience.
In words
What you get on each plan
Free
£0/mo5 free bank transfers a month then 20p each, UK card payments free, 3 invoices a month, chat support and Instant Saver at up to 2.27% AER.
Smart
£12.49/mo30 free transfers a month, 0% FX fees, one expense card seat, one extra business account, Xero connector, prioritised chat and phone support.
Pro
£27.49/moUnlimited transfers, two expense card seats, two extra accounts, Tide Accounting included and Instant Saver at up to 3.29% AER.
Max
£69.99/mo0.5% cashback on card purchases, three expense card seats, payroll software included, Credit Score Insights and the top Instant Saver rate.
Charges
Every Tide fee, line by line
| Monthly account fee (Free plan) | £0 |
| Bank transfers (Free plan) | 5 free a month, then 20p each |
| Tide Mastercard — UK card payments | Free |
| Foreign currency card payments (Free plan) | 2.75% FX fee |
| ATM withdrawal | £1 |
| Cash deposit at the Post Office (Free plan) | 0.99%, minimum £2.50 |
| Cash deposit at PayPoint | 3% |
| Digital cheque deposit | 70p + 20p transfer fee |
| CHAPS transfer (Free plan) | £15 each |
| Expense card seat (Free plan) | £5 per month each |
| Payroll software | £12 + VAT a month |
Real numbers
What Tide actually costs five real businesses
Freelancer, 8 payments out a month
Free plan £0 + 3 chargeable transfers at 20p = 60p a month.
Stay on Free. Paying £12.49 for Smart would cost you £143 a year to save £7.20.
Limited company, 35 transfers a month
Free plan £0 + 30 chargeable transfers at 20p = £6 a month. Smart is £12.49.
Free still wins on transfers alone; Smart only pays for itself if you also need 0% FX or an expense card.
Importer paying suppliers in euros
£4,000 a month on the card at 2.75% FX = £110 on Free. Smart charges 0% FX for £12.49.
Smart saves roughly £97 a month. This is the clearest upgrade case there is.
Shop taking £6,000 cash a month
Post Office at 0.99% = £59.40 a month. PayPoint at 3% = £180.
Use the Post Office, never PayPoint, and price cash handling into your margins before choosing Tide.
Team of four with expense cards
Free plan: 3 extra seats at £5 = £15 a month. Pro includes 2 seats for £27.49.
Free plus paid seats is cheaper unless you also want unlimited transfers and Tide Accounting.
Watch out
Charges people miss
The 20p transfer fee is per payment out
Money coming in is always free. It is outgoing Faster Payments beyond your monthly allowance that cost 20p each, so a business paying lots of small supplier invoices burns through the allowance fastest.
£1 per ATM withdrawal, every plan
There is no free cash withdrawal allowance on any plan. If you take cash out weekly, budget roughly £52 a year.
CHAPS is £15 unless your plan includes it
Free plan pays £15 per CHAPS payment. Smart and Pro include two, Max includes five. Most businesses never need CHAPS outside property completions.
Cheques are digital only, at 70p plus 20p
You photograph the cheque in the app. There is no branch or paying-in book, which matters if customers still pay you by cheque.
Payroll is a separate £12 + VAT
Included on Max, an add-on everywhere else. Compare it against standalone payroll software before switching.
Plan prices are excluding nothing, but add-ons stack
Tide Accounting from £13.99 and Admin Extra are billed on top unless your plan includes them, so read the checkout total rather than the headline price.
Choosing
Which Tide plan is actually right for you
Plan pricing only matters relative to how you actually trade. These are the switching points we use when someone asks which tier to pick.
Stay on Free if…
You make fewer than five outgoing transfers a month, raise three invoices or fewer, and rarely pay in cash. Most sole traders and side businesses never outgrow it, and the £200 reward is identical on the free plan.
Move to Smart if…
You regularly pass ten transfers a month, want extra linked accounts for tax and VAT pots, and use invoicing seriously. At 20p a transfer the break-even is roughly 60 payments a month on transfer volume alone, so the real reason to upgrade is the bundled tools, not the transfer allowance.
Move to Pro if…
You want Tide Accounting bundled rather than paid separately, need several team cards, and value priority support. Pro makes sense once the add-ons you already pay for exceed the plan difference.
Move to Max if…
You want cashback on card spend, the widest allowances and the admin extras included. Max only pays for itself at consistently high card spend — run your last three months of card turnover against the cashback rate before committing.
Saving money
Seven ways to cut your Tide costs
Batch your payments
Suppliers paid weekly instead of daily can take you from 20 outgoing transfers a month to four, which keeps you inside the free allowance.
Avoid the ATM where you can
Cash withdrawals carry a flat fee. Take one larger withdrawal rather than several small ones if you genuinely need notes.
Pay cash in at the cheapest counter
Post Office deposits are charged as a percentage with a minimum; PayPoint is a higher percentage. For anything beyond small amounts the Post Office almost always wins.
Never use CHAPS by default
CHAPS costs many times a standard transfer and is only needed for same-day high-value property-style payments. Faster Payments covers almost everything else.
Check your expense card seats
Each additional card seat is billed monthly. Cancel seats for staff who have left rather than letting them run.
Don't stack add-ons you don't use
Accounting, admin extras and address services each bill separately. Once two or three are running, a higher plan that bundles them can be cheaper than the sum.
Keep idle cash in the Saver
Money sitting in the current account earns nothing. Moving your tax float into the Instant Saver can offset your entire monthly plan fee.
In context
How Tide's charges compare
Versus high street banks
Traditional business accounts typically give you a free introductory period and then charge a monthly fee plus per-item charges for transfers, cash and cheques. Tide's free tier has no monthly fee at all, but charges after a small transfer allowance.
Versus Starling
Starling charges no monthly fee and no per-transfer fee for standard payments, which makes it cheaper on pure transaction cost. Tide wins on the welcome reward, the savings rate and the breadth of admin tools.
Versus Monzo Business
Monzo's free Lite tier is limited; its paid tier is priced close to Tide's Smart plan. The deciding factor is usually which app's invoicing and pots model you prefer.
The honest summary
If you make dozens of outgoing payments a month and nothing else matters, a bank with unlimited free transfers is cheaper. If you want the tools, the savings rate and £200 up front, Tide is the stronger overall package.
Watch out
Charges people are surprised by
The allowance resets monthly, not per plan year
Five free transfers means five each calendar month. Unused ones do not roll over.
Incoming transfers are not the same as outgoing
Money coming in is free. The allowance applies to payments you send.
Card payments abroad carry an FX charge
Spending in another currency adds a percentage to the exchanged amount, on top of whatever rate applies that day.
VAT on some add-ons
Certain services are quoted excluding VAT. Add 20% before you compare them with an all-in competitor price.
Downgrading is not always instant
Plan changes usually apply from the next billing cycle, so cancel before the renewal date rather than after.
Questions
Tide fees FAQ
Does Tide have a monthly fee?
Not on the Free plan — it is £0 a month with no minimum balance and no account closure fee. Smart is £12.49, Pro £27.49 and Max £69.99 a month.
How much does Tide charge per transaction?
Incoming payments are always free. Outgoing bank transfers are 20p each once you have used your plan's monthly allowance, which is 5 on Free and 30 on Smart. UK card payments are free.
What does it cost to pay cash into Tide?
0.99% of the amount at the Post Office with a £2.50 minimum, or 3% at PayPoint. The Post Office is cheaper on anything above about £250.
Are there hidden fees with Tide?
Nothing is hidden, but three charges surprise people: the 20p transfer fee beyond the allowance, £1 per ATM withdrawal and the 2.75% FX fee on foreign currency card payments on the Free plan.
Can I change Tide plan later?
Yes. Plans are monthly and you can move up or down in the app. Starting on Free and upgrading only when a fee actually bites is usually the cheapest route.
Does the NEW200 offer work on the Free plan?
Yes. The full £200 is available on the £0 Free plan — you do not need to buy a paid plan to qualify. You need to spend £100 on the card within 30 days and deposit £5,000 into Instant Saver within 7 days.
Open on the £0 plan and still get £200
The NEW200 reward is available on the Free plan. Enter the code when Tide asks for a referral code, or use the link below and it is applied for you.
Claim your £200 nowRead next: is Tide safe? or the full Tide review.